BRAVO, FLRA, YOU HAVE COME A LONG WAY!!!

We just took a look at the latest version of the Authority’s annual report and what a difference it shows between how well the FLRA is managed today under Carol Waller Pope in comparison to under her predecessor, Dale Cabaniss, an appointee of the previous President. Four years ago this agency was in shambles and a good candidate for the most poorly managed agency in government under Cabaniss, who resigned shortly after some damning information about her effectiveness hit the web.

Before we get to more details about Cabaniss’ reign of ruin, let’s make sure the Pope-Dubester-Beck team gets their due. It finished FY 2012 with only 2 pending ULP decisions to be issued. Four years ago, Cabaniss finished FY 2008 with 32.

Another important measure of the Authority’s efficiency is how often it issues a decision within 180 days of it being assigned to one of the three members to process. Team Cabaniss managed to hit the mark about 5% of the time while Pope’s crew met that deadline 75% of the time.

The same conclusion leaps from the report pages comparing how quickly the previous administration processed arbitration exceptions. They could only close 44 a year whereas the most recent annual report shows FLRA closing 133 a year in FY 2012.

This is a wonderful example of why who sits in the Oval Office is so important to day-to-day government efficiency. Now, not only do employees and their unions get decisions sooner, but where back pay is involved agencies’ liabilities are not compounding every month as they endlessly wait for an FLRA decision. There are some weak spots in the Authority’s performance, but their overall records is outstanding.